Posted August 20, 200619 yr who uses it? whered you get it and for how much? i need to order some power wire, 1/0 or 2/0, maybe bigger, i dont know yet. its for my 16v batteries, alt, and my soundstream xxx10000. should i run welding wire? or get nice caraudio 1/0?ive been reading about both, and its like 50/50...some like welding, some say it sucks. i dont know which i should buy.VJ
August 20, 200619 yr Wire is Wire mang. Weldingsupply.com has some decently flexable stuff and it's half the price of "car audio wire."The only difference between wire is strand count (higher means more flexible usually), OFC (tinned copper) which doesnt do a whole lot if you crimp and tin the ends of your wires correctly, and pretty casing.I used Home Depot wire for half of my Big3 More like a copper rod than wire but it works.
August 20, 200619 yr Welding cable is not flashy like the cable marketed to the car audio crowd. Only difference. For shopping try www.weldingsupply.com or www.trystarcables.com
August 20, 200619 yr Author ive looked at both, trystarcables seems to have cheaper prices. weldingsupply.com has gone up like twice recently. i had it copied in a notepad a while back for future reference incase i lost the site, and i noted that it was like 1.60 a ft. its like 2.08 now...trystar has 2/0 for 1.99.does more thin strands transfer the current better than less thick strands? guy at trystar said their 1/0 has 1045 strands and their 2/0 has 1330 strands. the knukoncepts 1/0 has like 5100 strands...
August 20, 200619 yr A bunch of smaller strands does nothing as far as scross sectional area. And crossectional area is what matters. Smaller strands do, however, leave for more surface area to corrode...which is a bad thing. Copper rods FTW!
August 20, 200619 yr Basically all 1/0 wire will conduct the same unless one of the 1/0's is of higher purity copper or isnt actually 1/0.
August 20, 200619 yr Actually, more surface area is better, but in this instance you are not going to notice a difference. You could even use THHN and not notice a thing, and that probably only has 15-20 strands per.
August 20, 200619 yr i wish i woulda got the 2/0 although i didnt need it.I have 1/0 going back to a distro block then 4 guage.I would suggest the same.The shorter the run of the wire, the higher in guage u can go. So just dont make it that long
August 20, 200619 yr From your alt to your batteries I would run 2/0. From the batteries to the amp 1/0 is fine. I'm assumeing your run wont me more than 2-3ft though. Much more and I would do 2/0 or 3/0...or just fill a garden hose with molten copper.
August 20, 200619 yr Author all my batts will be right under the amp itself. longest wire will be from the 16v alt to the batts in the cargo. and what do u mean run 1/0 to a dist block and then 4 gauge? 4 gauge to the amp?
August 21, 200619 yr Actually, more surface area is better, but in this instance you are not going to notice a difference. You could even use THHN and not notice a thing, and that probably only has 15-20 strands per.correct me if i'm wrong, but....if your chasing tenths, ie: competiting, you want as little resistance as possible. the more voltage, the more power, so...that means you want more surface area, more strands, more wire, correct? thicker wire adds resistance, correct?now, i'm pretty sure i'm correct there, and i'm sure pimped, you are wanting to compete. and while i know your run will be uber short, the fact remains that wire can add or take away a tenth or two. that's the reason alot of hardcore guys run multipule runs of 1/0, on top of the fact they are using 10kwrms of power.for daily, you'd never tell a difference, and the welding wire would be sweet. but for those chasing tenths, it's something to consider.....wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
August 21, 200619 yr Author actually this is a daily setup...im not gonna get into competing really...just at local shows prally...i dont wanna travel everywhere and all that.
August 21, 200619 yr if chasing tenth's i'd x out the distro block, and just shave down the ends of the 1/0 to fit into the amp, a grinder works nice (air tool).Or i've seen where they have 1/0 connectors that hook into ur amp that would be the best option i think. The distro block would only be if u were using more than one amp, but in that case u can run more than one line of 1/0 wire back there.
August 21, 200619 yr Author im only running 1 amp on the 16v circuit. my other 2 amps for 16 mids and highs will be run off the 12v circuit.
August 21, 200619 yr Actually, more surface area is better, but in this instance you are not going to notice a difference. You could even use THHN and not notice a thing, and that probably only has 15-20 strands per.correct me if i'm wrong, but....if your chasing tenths, ie: competiting, you want as little resistance as possible. the more voltage, the more power, so...that means you want more surface area, more strands, more wire, correct? thicker wire adds resistance, correct?now, i'm pretty sure i'm correct there, and i'm sure pimped, you are wanting to compete. and while i know your run will be uber short, the fact remains that wire can add or take away a tenth or two. that's the reason alot of hardcore guys run multipule runs of 1/0, on top of the fact they are using 10kwrms of power.for daily, you'd never tell a difference, and the welding wire would be sweet. but for those chasing tenths, it's something to consider.....wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Re-read my post. I said more surface area is better. There is a point of diminishing returns though.
August 21, 200619 yr yea u guys talk like geeks, jeeztwo runs of wire ur gonna need though.1 1/0 for the 16v to ur amp1 1/0(if need be) for the 12v to a distro then to (4guage outs) ur amps.ur not gonna notice the diffrence between weldin wire and audio wire or home depot wire. The only thing u'll notice is the flexibilty. The car audio wire tends to be a little bigger than the welding wire.I think the kicker wire i got was like 8 strands of 8gauge wire all wrapped up, The welding wire was just one big strand. And the home depot wire i used a while ago was umm very thick and hard to work wt but its possible. But they have all sounded the same haven't noticed a diffrence.
August 21, 200619 yr 1/0 is 1/0. There is no bigger or smaller. 1/0 referst to the corrsection of the wire. If they are claiming 1/0 it should have a 1/0 cross section.
August 21, 200619 yr Author What battery terminals will accept 2/0 wire? I have 2 of the knu konceptz terminals and they are supposed to fit 1/0 but that looks like its pushing it...which ones should I get?
August 23, 200619 yr Actually, more surface area is better, but in this instance you are not going to notice a difference.
August 24, 200619 yr Actually, more surface area is better, but in this instance you are not going to notice a difference. You could even use THHN and not notice a thing, and that probably only has 15-20 strands per.correct me if i'm wrong, but....if your chasing tenths, ie: competiting, you want as little resistance as possible. the more voltage, the more power, so...that means you want more surface area, more strands, more wire, correct? thicker wire adds resistance, correct?now, i'm pretty sure i'm correct there, and i'm sure pimped, you are wanting to compete. and while i know your run will be uber short, the fact remains that wire can add or take away a tenth or two. that's the reason alot of hardcore guys run multipule runs of 1/0, on top of the fact they are using 10kwrms of power.for daily, you'd never tell a difference, and the welding wire would be sweet. but for those chasing tenths, it's something to consider.....wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Re-read my post. I said more surface area is better. There is a point of diminishing returns though.i know what you posted..lol...my thougth was he was going to be chasing tenths, ie:competeing. what i was trying to get across was, and wanted to be sure i was right, if chasing tenths, get the most surface area you can to better yoru chances of keeping up the power to the amps and lower resistance.now, he's not really competeing, so i'd back the welding wire option.also, diminshing returns, where too much is actually a problem, correct? how so?wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee The point of diminishing returns is when there's excessive cable which effectively could increase resistance. I don't know how to calculate it, so don't ask.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.